And after hitting the diamond following his five-year stint in the Marine Corps, the 31-year-old Vincent now finds himself as the skipper of a first-year local adult amateur team.

That team is the Jacksonville Pirates, a 28-and-over squad that plays in the North Carolina/South Carolina Men’s Baseball League and features former high school players like Vincent who simply enjoy playing ball — for nothing.

The NC/SC Men’s Baseball League is in conjunction with Roy Hobbs Baseball, an adult amateur association.

“This is something I’ve been doing for a long time and right around 2000 I started playing back home (in Bayside, N.Y.),” Vincent said. “I played a few years up there and did the Marine thing, and when I got out, I started my first few years working in the civilian world.

“In 2011, I decided to start playing ball again and I found the Wilmington syndicate (of Roy Hobbs Baseball) and played in a couple of leagues in 2011 and 2012 to get my feet wet in the league and get back into baseball.”

Vincent, though, did more than just get back into the game. He became a full-fledged active member, courtesy of the league, based in Wilmington.

“Right around the holidays, the president of the league approached me and said, ‘Hey, if there was enough interest in the Jacksonville area … would you be interested in heading it up?’” Vincent said. “I agreed to it, and ever since then we have recruited players to get this thing off the ground.”

And that’s exactly what Vincent and the Pirates have continued to try to do since officially forming in January. The Pirates are not owned by any one person and the men’s baseball league is responsible for scheduling and booking umpires.

Meanwhile, Vincent is the face of the Pirates, locally and within the league. He is the team manager and one of the pitchers while assistant manager Steve Brown is an infielder and pitcher along with being Vincent’s right-hand man.

Their job, in addition to putting together a competitive team, is to get word out about their team’s existence. The Pirates play in a league where games are nine innings — in doubleheaders they play seven — and teams use wooden bats.

There’s also rules to ensure “more flexibility in positions changes that are not as complex as in the big leagues,” Vincent said.

In addition to the Pirates, the league features three Myrtle Beach, S.C., teams — the Hurricanes, Bombers and the South Strand Storm, and Vincent said the league has expansion plans. The league also has a five-team 40-and-over division.

“I love baseball and pitching is a huge passion of mine. When the opportunity presented itself to start something here … there really wasn’t a whole lot going on for family-friendly (activities),” Vincent said. “I thought about something that appeals to the younger, athletic crowd. We encourage everybody to bring their kids. There are cookouts and language (needs to be respectful).

Page 2 of 2 - “The hardest thing has been getting cooperation from the area. Something we need is (sponsors). We can’t get any business sponsors. We are not asking for a whole lot. And then we don’t have a field.”

The Pirates play their home games at Onslow Pines Park.

On the field, the team has progressed, despite a 1-7 record, Vincent said. Jacksonville’s only win was a 24-14 win over the Storm on May 18. The Pirates play host to the Storm on Sunday for a doubleheader at Onslow Pines Park. The first game is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Jacksonville has five games left after the doubleheader.

“We have a group of players who had been out of the game for a while and so the first few games we were testing the water and seeing who could play where,” Vincent said. “Offensively, we are quickly coming to be a competitive team. Defensively, we are making a few changes with some new players. I would put our pitching staff against anyone in the league.

“The easiest thing is getting everybody on the field. This is the best team I’ve been on where everybody is on the same sheet of music and enjoying themselves.”

Three players are natives of Onslow County. Brown and outfielder/pitcher Keith Jarman are from Richlands while catcher/first baseman Brandon Potter is from Jacksonville. Also, catcher D.J. Hammac is a 2001 graduate of White Oak High, but calls Pensacola, Fla., his hometown.

The rest of the 16-man roster came to the area through the military. Vincent said between “40 to 50 percent” of the team is active duty military or former military.

“We are trying to keep this core together as much as possible,” Vincent said. “We want to get a couple wins in the column and make as much noise as we can. Next year we are hoping for .500 or better and we would like to make a competitive run in the playoffs.”

If anything else, Vincent and the Pirates just look to continue playing ball.